Suzanne McGrath Photography

Six on Sunday

I made it!  I'm here.  We had a fabulous trip to Lake Okoboji and made it back with time to hang out at the pool with the kids today.  Perfect!

1.  Remember last week how I told you half my garden was destroyed?  Well, I went to a nursery and the woman I talked to there suggested I pick out seeds and try planting crops that way.  I figured I had nothing to lose so I bought these and planted them last Tuesday night:

I still need to go out there tonight and see if anything has popped up.  I'm crossing my fingers that these produce for me!

 

2.  The hubby and I made our annual trek up to Lake Okoboji for a weekend with friends.  As usual, we had a blast!  We drove up Wednesday after work so we could wake up at the lake on Thursday.  We spent the day just shopping and eating around the lake.  It was a perfect, easy-going day.  That night we had our own little bar crawl and had so much fun.  We played Trivial Pursuit, darts, ate Pho for dinner, and just hit all the bars that sounded fun.  

 

Our friends Jason and Susan made it up late Thursday night but it rained until early afternoon Friday.  Plus, the AC was out so it was getting stuffy.  Well, the boys came to our rescue and fixed the AC!

They were so proud of themselves they walked around all night telling random strangers that they fixed the AC.  I don't think they will EVER let us forget how handy they were!

Yesterday we spent the day out on the lake and it was just beautiful weather.

 

The hubby and I got up this morning and hit the road by 10am.  It was really nice to get home a little early and hang out with the girls this afternoon/evening.

 

3.  Our weekend wouldn't have been possible without my mom.  This year she volunteered to come up and stay with the girls.  They had so much fun.  She took them to Main Event with their cousins on Friday and they are still talking about it!

(Sadly #1 had to work and missed out on the fun.)

They had a pizza party at the pool Friday night, and she took them out to BRGR Saturday night!

I think they really enjoyed their time with Gamma!

 

4.  I had the girls meet me at the little cafe across the street last Wednesday morning for breakfast.  After breakfast I took them in to see my office.  It was a fun little outing for all of us!

 

5.  We're trying to find time for the big girls to spend a few days in AR with my mom and I think we've finally nailed down a date.  It looks like they will head down there the last full week before school.  I'm happy because they have been asking all summer and thrilled it will work out this year!

 

6.  So it's Shark Week and some show started 36 minutes ago so I need to wrap this up so I can go watch it with the rest of the family.  Have a great week!

 

Six on Sunday

Hello!  I think this is the second Sunday in a row now?  Anyway, the streak my end next week so let's celebrate it for now...

 

1.  I am sure you can tell by how much I've written that I am loving my garden this year.  That is still true.  However, half of it is gone.  It's so sad!

Some dumb vine borer killed my zucchini AND my pumpkin plants.  I hate that pest.  I think my zucchini got it last year as well.  And I even planted it in a different bed with freshly delivered soil.  I blame the soil.  But, I have to press on, I guess.  I'm trying to figure out what else I can plant in there this late in the season.  I've read that I can still do cucumbers or beans or brussels sprouts.  Now the hard part is to find a place where I can buy the plant or seeds.  If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears!

In the meantime, I've designed my new and improved garden for next year.  I even mapped it out so I won't forget come next May!

I am taking solace in this fun container on my deck:

I don't remember what that climbing vine with the white flowers is called but I am in love with it!  The flowers only last a day but they are simply gorgeous.  It's especially pretty when the other plants are flowering prolifically as well!  

 

2.  If we are friends on Facebook (and that's how most of you read this), you already know the hubby and I celebrated 20 years of marriage this past Tuesday!  Isn't that crazy?  It's almost half our life.  We were practically babies when we got married - 23 and 24 years old:

It's so fun to look at that picture.  The memories come flooding back...  I didn't want to grow out my hair for my wedding  because it was too much work and it wasn't "me".  (I wish it would have been just a bit longer.)  I didn't have a necklace on because that would have been "too much".  (Just the right necklace would have been a lovely finishing touch.)  I hated my flowers with a passion.  My florist was a major ass who didn't listen to anything I wanted and pretty much did his own thing except he kept to my color scheme.  But mostly, it was such a fun day.  I wasn't nervous in the least - just ready to get married and have a big party with my most favorite people.  And that's exactly what we did!

We celebrated by taking all four girls to see Wonder Woman.  (Tangent:  I totally had a pair of Wonder Woman Underoos when I was maybe 5 or 6 years old and I thought they were the COOLEST thing ever!)  I had been dying to see the movie and it seemed appropriate to watch a strong woman kick some ass given we have four amazing daughters!  We had a great family night.  We simply ate dinner at home and then all six of us went to Claire's because #1 wanted to get her ears double pierced and she needed my signature.  Since it was right next to the theater and we had time, it just made sense.  Still - it will be funny to think back on what we did for our 20 year anniversary and we took #1 to get her ears pierced!  We all loved the movie.  It was such a great introduction to Wonder Woman and I love Greek mythology so that was a fun tie-in that I didn't know about ahead of time.  If you haven't seen the movie yet I would highly recommend it.

 

3.  We rented two movies this weekend:  John Wick 2 and Hidden Figures.  So here's my take on them...

We rented John Wick 2 on Friday night because the Littles were at a sleepover which meant we could watch something with a little blood and guts.  Plus, we both enjoyed the first movie.  But let me tell you, this movie was entirely just shoot 'em up stuff.  There was very little plot and the character didn't develop AT ALL.  I was disappointed since I generally love those sort of spy-type movies.

Last night we rented Hidden Figures and I LOVED IT!  I had heard it was only so-so but I thought it was outstanding.  The fact that it was based on a true story was both disturbing and amazing.  The way women and black people were treated in 1961 was at times hard to watch.  It blows my mind that people were (and still are) treated differently solely based upon the color of their skin.  i just can't wrap my head around the why.  But at the other end of the spectrum, it was phenomenal.  These women were simply brilliant!  I loved how they were so smart and fiercely determined.  The story was amazing.  I also loved that my girls watched it.  What a great story about women.

 

4.  I've talked about our neighborhood before, right?  We love our cul-de-sac and all of our neighbors.  Well last night the doorbell rang almost as were going to sit down for dinner.  It was a package from our neighbor, Miss Dorothy, who lives across the street.  There was a little note saying she had seen these for two years and finally couldn't resist buying them and giving them to us for a gift - just because.  

Inside?  The most adorable set of four plates with numbers on them - 1, 2, 3, and 4.  Too perfect for our four girls!  You know we busted those out tonight!

We all think they are the cutest ever and will use them a TON.  Thank you so much, Miss Dorothy!  Wasn't that so sweet?  It simply made my day yesterday.

 

5.  The girls had a fairly lazy week last week:

#2 ended up not going to Worlds of Fun on Monday because the heat index was well over 100*.  Stupid humidity.  Anyway, the littles played quite a bit with friends and spent time at the pool.  The girls all goofed off at Ikea on Thursday and I got this picture while at work:

The Littles also had a very special sleepover on Friday night.  They got picked up a little after lunch on Friday and spent the entire afternoon/evening with their dear friends from preschool:

These girls have known each other since they were 2 and babies.  Every time they get together they have a blast.  This time was no exception and they can't wait to have Reese and Hayden over to their house!

 

6.  The hubby and I are each on a 7-day diet to jump start ourselves back to somewhat healthy.  We haven't been good all summer but we really took it over the top for the 4th of July.  But man, do I love food!  And beer!  And wine!  And wine sprizers!  So anyway, you get the idea.  The scale was creeping up and the clothes were getting a little tight.  

Starting last Wednesday we have been eating super clean and drinking ZERO alcohol.  Think chicken breast, ground turkey, and ground beef round the clock with eggs thrown in there for breakfast.  It's monotonous to say the least.  However, it's getting the job done so there's that.  And I'm sure I'll gain all that back when we go to Okoboji next weekend!  Whatever.  It's how we roll...

 

And there you have it!  I'm not sure I'll be here next Sunday depending on how I feel after spending a long weekend at the lake with friends.  So with that, have a good week!

   

 

Six on Sunday

Happy Sunday!  I'm back after a one week hiatus for the 4th of July.  Let's chat up, shall we?

 

1.  Remember how I talked about #2 getting her learners permit?  Well, it's official.  She passed the test!

In fact, we went out driving today.  Man, I forgot how hard it is to teach a teenager to drive!  I'm confident she'll get there but it's always a bit rocky at first.  I mean, slowing down, putting on the blinker, judging the angle, making the turn - all in about 2 split seconds is HARD.  At least we survived until the next time.

 

2.  I have been traveling a bit for work and I'm ready to retire this view:

I don't have any trips on the near horizon and I'm totally OK with that!

 

3.  #4 went to three days of Girls Scout camp the week before the 4th of July.  To say she had a blast would be an understatement!

Here she is with her two bestie - she is in the middle.
 

 

4.  We headed south to Arkansas for the 4th of July.  We had a great trip!  We enjoyed spending time with my mom and her special friend, the cousins, and my sister and her significant other.  It really was a great long weekend!  Since I didn't land until late Friday night, June 30th, we didn't head down to Arkansas until early on Saturday July 1st (we left the house at 7am).  It was our first trip to the Farmers Market in Bentonville and we really enjoyed ourselves.  

Then, we spent a lot of time at the lake!

 

The hubby and I even joined in on the fun:

Everyone had a turn on skis or the wakeboard - even #4 skied.  She popped up on the first try!  

 

Of course we enjoyed fireworks over the damn while sitting in the boat.  It's such a fun way to enjoy the 4th.

 

You know the boys were suckered into buying fireworks, too.  Here's what the kids picked out:

 It took us two nights to blow up all this crap!  I managed to get one picture of the six kids at once - no small feat!

 

Of course the three littles wanted to attend the 4th of July parade in Bella Vista because they knew they would get candy!

 

And look what I made for the kids for dinner on the 4th.  Aren't they cute?!

All in all, it was another fun 4th of July in the books for us.  Did you have fun?

 

5.  We left the two little girls down in Arkansas with my mom and their cousins.  They had a really fun three days together!  They went to the Amazeum (children's museum), boating, fishing, go-karting, watched Despicable Me 3, and went out to dinner.  I'd say they were spoiled!

 

6.  When we got back from Arkansas, the vegetable garden looked like this:

I failed to realize how crazy watermelon vines can be in a small space.  They would take over both beds if I let them!  I spent some time out there harvesting my veggies and cutting down the watermelon vines.  I love it!  It's so fun to spend time out there every day.  I'm thinking of adding one more bed next year and I think I've even got the hubby on board!  (But I need to remember to make a ledge to hold my beer while I'm out there!)

Here was our harvest:

There are about 10 tomatoes out there but they are still really green.  Once they ripped we'll be able to make salsa completely from the garden.  I can hardly wait!  (We made The Pioneer Woman's salsa using our onions, cilantro, and jalapeños the other day - it's delicious!)

 

7.  Because I had been gone for work prior to our departure to Arkansas, no laundry was done.  (I'm not placing blame here - I'm exceptionally picky when it comes to laundry and I could have asked for help but didn't.)  So when we got home (minus two kids - by the way), this is what was waiting for me:

I lost track at 6 loads...
 

8.  On Friday I told the big girls they could pick any restaurant in town they wanted to try as long as it was reasonably priced.  (Since the Littles were in Arkansas with my mom.)  They picked Imperial Brewery down in the Crossroads.  I failed to realize it was First Fridays but that just made it even more fun!  Here's a shot of the inside of the restaurant:

We had so much fun!  We don't often get to spend time with just the big girls and it was great because they opened up and talked and I loved it.  I realize our time together is short and it was such a treat to get to hang out with them for a Friday night!  Man, am I lucky.  (The beer was EXCELLENT - especially the July beer.  The food was fine.  Nothing exceptional but definitely OK.) 

 

9.  I picked up the little girls and their cousins on Saturday afternoon.  (My mom and I met halfway.)  First, a big shout out to the hubby who cleaned the house while I was gone.  That was AWESOME!  And then, we came home and had a homemade pizza night before heading to the pool.  And ALL FOUR GIRLS WENT TO THE POOL!  I was in heaven.  

Seriously, the big girls played with the little girls for a long time and I was in heaven.  My little family was all in one place and my heart was full.  It was a good night.

 

Phew!  We are all caught up again.  This week promises to be fairly normal and I'm totally Ok with that.  I hope you have a great week!